Mike Holmes Loc: The Villages Fl

I am purchasing a battery grip for my canon 90D and am trying to decide wither to spend the extra money to buy a canon brand or opt for a less expensive, half the price, after market brand. Most reviews I have read on after market brands are positive with a few which talk about frying the mother board in the camera. Does anyone have experience with a particular brand?

will47 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

I tried the aftermarket and found they work for awhile and then quit. Switched to Canon and they have worked perfectly for a long time. I think with the battery grip matched to the manufacturer all will be well.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

I have a 7DII Canon grip and I would never buy 3 rate accessories for a first rate camera. Needless to say I have had NO problems with mine. Spending the extra cash is worth the piece of mind you will have too.

ltj123 Loc: NW Wisconsin

I've had both off brand and Canon, both worked just fine over years of use. But the off brand tend to physically not hold up as well, grainy material separating, finish wearing off on non-Canon brands.
Basically Canon grips just look better after years of use, no issues far as performance for me.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've been using a Vello battery grip on my T1i for years.
Works very well. I'm pleased with it.

Ollieboy

I have both. The off brand ($30) eventually discharges the batteries in a week or so by itself. My original Sony is 5 years old and never had a problem. Sony was way more money though. Money well spent.

ggab Loc: ?

With most things in life, it depends upon how much you use it.
I have used both off brand and Canon and both served me well.
If I used my cameras everyday as a professional, I would definitely go with the Canon. They are more robust. If I was, as I am, an amatuar that does not depend upon my camera for my income I would go with the best reviewed off brand I could find.

I bought my last three cameras with battery grip specials from Canon, that's why I have the Canon grips.

BTW, I never had a service issue with my EOS 7D with the aftermarket battery grip.

Good Luck.

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I have used a Vello grip for my T2i for a very long time with no issues. For my 5DS, using a Mieke at the moment and have never had problems in the 3 years I have used it. Pretty much always mounted when using the cameras and separated when storing. Both aftermarket grips are well made and cosmetically there are no excessive signs of wear.

I always figured that for the price if I had to replace a bad grip, I could do it 4 times before it equaled the cost of a new Canon grip.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

I would only purchase the Canon Grip......better built and electrically more apt to stay that way. Third party components are always a risk unless they are tested over time and prove otherwise. And anything having to do with batteries needs closer inspection because they tend to have a shelf life and an expected failure rate once initiated and recharged on a regular basis. Everything has it's time & place.

I do, however shop the eBay circuit for used/mint-condition gear and have gotten lucky on several occasions but there is risk involved in that , so knowing what you're buying in advance is essential for success. Good luck to you.

ggab Loc: ?

I used the "Neewer LCD Vertical BATTERY GRIP" with my EOS 7D with out issue.

Malco

I don't know which camera and grip you want to use. I have always use full Canon frame cameras. I like the battery grips because I like to use a hand strap with my cameras. A while back I bought one of those aftermarket grips (it may have been a Vello). Anyway when I held the camera with the hand grip it felt springy like the grip was bending. I sent the aftermarket grip back and bought the Canon. That felt solid as a rock.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Currently using a Vivitar grip from Cameta on Canon 80D (2 yrs) - no problem so far....

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I only use Canon OEM grips on my cameras.

I don't have any experience with the BG-E14, in particular. But have used eight or ten of other ones, over the years. All have been quite well made and worked very well (with one minor exception, see below).

BG-E14 have been around for a while... used with 80D and 70D, as well as now with the 90D. So if you don't want to pay full price (about $169-180) for one, you could probably find a good, used one for considerably less without much trouble. Google found them new for $169 (B&H), open box $139 (B&H), or used for $129 (KEH) to as little as $89 (eBay). The Vello grip sells new for $85 (B&H). There's a cheaper "Green Extreme" brand I've never heard of, comes with two 3rd party batteries for $90 (Adorama).

After spending $1100+ for a good camera, personally I don't see any reason to "cheap out" on the grip for it... or the add'l batteries for that matter (Canon OEM LP-E6N cost around $60... but when they were first intro'd they were $100 list price and so scarce some sellers were charging $125 ea.! I know because that's what an extra one cost for my 5D Mark II, one of the first cameras to use that battery.)

I don't know if using a third party grip on the camera might void the warranty. Using a third party battery in it very probably would.

The only Canon battery grip I've ever had any trouble with were very early BG-E2, which originally sold for use with the 20D. The first 100,000 (?) or so of those could loosen and lose contact with the camera, causing it to die unexpectedly. Usually simply re-tightening the grip would correct things. But there was also a simple DIY fix (replacing the rubber pad on the upper surface with thinner... or just removing it entirely), which made it far less likely to happen. There used to be info on the Canon website about this "issue". Later BG-E2 and BG-E2N, sold and used with 30D, 40D and 50D, worked fine. (The only diff. between BG-E2 and BG-E2N grips appeared to be some dust seals added to the door of the latter.)

Another minor "problem", though not any fault of the battery grips themselves: I use BG-E16 now on both my 7D Mark II cameras. I've tried to buy extra "battery trays" that these use (not the AA version... the LP-E6N version).... but never been able to. Canon Pro Services and Canon Services Parts Dept. don't even "get it", can't understand why I'd want a couple extra "Battery Magazine BGM-E16L" (simple.... to have a pair of batteries pre-loaded in a tray for a quick change... d'oh!) They offered to sell me an AA tray for a 5D Mark II grip! (No way that would fit the BG-E16, not to mention it's for the wrong type of battery.) Apparently it's not sold as a replacement part... or offered separately. I refused to spend $250 (at that time... now $209 new) on another grip, just to get a spare battery tray!

The unavailability of BGM-E16L surprised me... I'd think spares of those would be popular among sports shooters, in particular, to facilitate quicker battery changes. Oh well.